Ross Stripling – Sports Updatehttps://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate
Blogging special sports events and storiesThu, 27 Oct 2016 18:43:48 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Childress: Aggies no stranger to pressurehttps://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2011/06/childress-aggies-no-stranger-to-pressure/
https://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2011/06/childress-aggies-no-stranger-to-pressure/#commentsFri, 17 Jun 2011 14:30:45 +0000http://blog.chron.com/aggies/?p=1314Texas A&M has faced adversity time and again in the past month – and prevailed. The Aggies figure that’s about to pay off in the College World Series.

“There’s not an awful lot that we haven’t had to come through in order to continue to play,” A&M coach Rob Childress said.

The Aggies needed to salvage the series finale against rival Texas to claim a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, and did. They had to defeat Missouri in a final contest to earn the Big 12 tournament title in Oklahoma City, and did.

They prevailed in an NCAA tournament regional finale against Arizona, and again in a winner-take-all super regional Game 3 at Florida State.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall in Austin, in Bricktown (in Oklahoma City), against Arizona and then again at Florida State,” Childress said. “These guys can’t have any more pressure on them than they’ve already had, and I know they’ll play well.”

The Aggies, the only road team to prevail among the eight super regionals, will face defending national champion South Carolina starting 6 p.m. Sunday in the opening round. The Aggies and Gamecocks have never played in baseball.

“They’re no stranger to Omaha,” Childress said of South Carolina. “Coach (Ray) Tanner has done an amazing job, and we’ll have our hands full. But I don’t think there’s an easy draw once you’re playing this time of year.”

Childress will turn to Ross Stripling (14-2) in the opener over Michael Wacha, considering Stripling has two more days rest than Wacha. Either one could qualify as A&M’s new ace in the absence of John Stilson, who was diagnosed with a torn labrum just prior to the NCAA tournament.

“It’s just a rest thing,” Childress said. “Wacha did a great job for us on Monday (at FSU), but Ross has the most rest and he’s also got 14 wins. It’s a pretty easy decision starting him in Game 1, and he matches up pretty well with South Carolina.”

Stripling will face Gamecocks ace Michael Roth (13-3) in the new home of the College World Series, with either Virginia or California waiting on Tuesday in the double-elimination format.

“It’s one thing all eight teams will be able to say 50 years from now, that they were one of the first teams to play in the College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park,” Childress said. “It’s just going to be a great experience.”

]]>https://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2011/06/childress-aggies-no-stranger-to-pressure/feed/1Aggies in good shape to try to defend tourney titlehttps://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2011/05/aggies-in-good-shape-to-try-and-defend-tourney-title/
https://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2011/05/aggies-in-good-shape-to-try-and-defend-tourney-title/#respondSat, 28 May 2011 14:49:40 +0000http://blog.chron.com/aggies/?p=1271OKLAHOMA CITY – Second-seeded Texas A&M is in excellent shape to play for its second consecutive Big 12 tournament title. The Aggies take on Kansas State at 12:30 p.m. today in Bricktown Ballpark, with the Wildcats facing long odds of getting past A&M.

Texas A&M beat Kansas State 4-1 on Thursday. (Sue Ogrocki / AP)

Kansas State (2-1), which played Friday night while the 2-0 Aggies had earned the day off, must win two against A&M today to advance to Sunday’s 1 p.m. title game against either Missouri or Texas.

Should KSU win the early game – and the Wildcats will be facing 12-2 Ross Stripling – the teams will meet again at 7:30 tonight. The Aggies are hoping another Big 12 tournament title will translate into a top eight national seed and the right to host a super regional, should they advance past their home regional next weekend.

A&M is in good shape pitching-wise in the league tournament, as well. Ace John Stilson, who was scratched from the opener with soreness in his shoulder, is available today and Sunday out of the bullpen. The top-seeded Longhorns must win two today against the eighth-seeded Tigers to advance to the title game.